Wanna know what I did on Saturday night?

I sat outside and watched THIS happen:



"Overnight SWAT Standoff Ends Peacfully
---------------A SWAT standoff in ----------- ended peacefully early Sunday morning.

Police say a man was threatening to blow up his home at ------------if anyone tried to enter the building.

Authorities tell us the stand off began around 10 pm when police got a call from a man saying his neighbor, the suspect, was throwing things around.

When officers arrived the man barricaded himself inside the home and threatened to blow up the building.

Police evacuated the neighborhood. SWAT was called in and began negotiations with the man. The man cut off talks with officers and SWAT offered him an ultimatum.

**** *****, the Assistant Chief of ---------- police says, “We gave him 15 minutes and let him know that if he didn’t come out in 15 minutes we were prepared to launch tear gas into the home.”

The man came out a short time later and was arrested without incident. The standoff ended just before 3 a.m.

Police say the man was taken to the hospital for psychological evaluation. Authorities say he has a history of depression."

A quote from our local news website.

It's funny how news travels. I got a call from my SIL who lives in our neighborhood, who in turn got it from her friend. We turned on the news and there it was. I told my DH I was taking a walk.

I walked around the block and stopped at my friends house. She was outside in her front yard. We were soon joined by two families that were evacuated, the R.S. president, and various other neighbors. We could see the back of the house where the standoff was.

My friend pulled a television out of her house and put it on her front porch and put in a movie for all of the kids. We stood outside until 1:00 in the morning, during which time we heard the cops yell various things with their bullhorns. At one point they told him "Don't be alarmed, we are throwing a phone into your house." Then we heard glass breaking. They made all of the residents of the neighborhood turn off any and all outdoor lights. They had also cut off power to his house and they had shut the gas off. It was kind of eery seeing our neighborhood so dark.

A local news station was there and they attempted to interview our EQ pres. but he walked away as fast as he could to avoid them. I know they interviewed one of his next door neighbors.

The two evacuated families had made plans to go and stay with relatives, but then were told around 11:00 that it would be over soon, so the people they were going to stay with went to bed. The police told us that it would possibly not be over until 3:00. They said the man did something that changed their plans. So, my friend and I set up beds in our homes for them.

I am glad no one was hurt. Seriously glad. But can I tell you, standoffs ARE NOT the way they seem on T.V. --I was expecting "24."-- Besides the great conversation, it was a boring incident. I feel bad for the poor cop that was watching the back of the house. He stood there for hours with only the occasional car driving by to ask if they could go back home.

I think the highlight was when our R.S. president was on the lawn talking to us, and her car alarm went off.

What did you do on your Saturday night?